Assam's ST status plan for 6 groups to be taken up 'positively'

Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal has indicated a positive consideration for granting Scheduled Tribe status to six communities in Assam. This comes as protests erupt across the state. The proposal, based on a Group of Ministers' report, cites socio-economic backwardness. Students have voiced concerns about potential dilution of their rights.

& Twesh Mishra

New Delhi | Guwahati: Amid protests over the Group of Ministers' (GoM) report proposing Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for six communities in Assam, Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday said the proposal of the state government will be taken up positively.

The report with the recommendations of the GoM on the demand for ST status by Tai Ahom, Chutia, Moran, Motok, Koch-Rajbongshi and Tea Tribes (adivasis) communities was laid in the assembly on November 29.

Responding to a query over protests in Assam, Sonowal, former chief minister of Assam, said, "The interests of all communities in the state will be ensured," he told ET in New Delhi. He further said the decision to give ST status is in line with the 2019 recommendations of the state which led to the introduction of a bill to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950. This proposal was forwarded when Sonowal was CM of the state.

On Wednesday, a large number of people protested against the proposal of providing ST status to six communities in Dima Hasao district of Assam. The GoM report has found full justification for inclusion of the six communities in the ST list based on their socio-economic backwardness.

On November 29, students from Bodoland University held a huge protest and marched to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) secretariat in Assam's Kokrajhar opposing the proposal for the grant of ST status to six major communities. Thousands of students defying the security barricade barged inside the BTC secretariat while alleging that giving ST status to six new communities will dilute their rights and opportunities.

The communities seeking ST status have been protesting at different places in Assam for the last two months.
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Source: EconomicTimes
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